


Darkness Arising

by Izzu



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-05-18
Updated: 2004-05-26
Packaged: 2017-11-08 04:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/439047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzu/pseuds/Izzu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The darkness have arisen in Tomoeda and Sakura wonders what could be the cause of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting my old stories. On hiatus. Though I'll be editing the current chapters slightly as it used to have a lot of broken japanese lines. 
> 
> This was a sequel to fic which I haven't yet transfered from FF.net. So some plot might not make sense.

"Umm, interesting…", sighed Professor Arthur Hopkins as he looked into the snapshots of one of the findings that his team had found. It so happened that these snapshots were taken from a hidden cavern found inside of the ruins of one of the ancient monuments in Egypt. As he scrutinized the pictures to decipher the meanings, a familiar mark was found.

The professor gasped as he immediately got up to the phone…

Mutou Sugoroku chirped happily to himself as he lazily dusted the counters inside his small shop. He was so at an easy mood, for an old man like him. And it cannot be helped, since now Yugi had finally finished his degree and had returned to stay with him again. Boy, how he had loved this only grandson of his… it can't be helped, he had raised him for a very long time! Added with the fact that now, his son Akira had been able to come visiting him more often than before and they won't have to keep it from Yugi anymore.

Yes, he was a happy old man. Besides, he was glad that now Yugi had been able to live like a normal person. No more suspicious people coming to kill or destroy the world, to threaten Yugi's life again. The only danger that Yugi could receive now maybe the onslaught of duelists wanting to challenge him or those crazy fangirls that loves to chase after him and Seto because of their duelist fame. And it seemed that he had grown even more cheerful ever since the events of the last three years. The old man hummed again as he heard the doorbell rang…

"Ohoho… welcome! What can I do—", The old man crooned before he gasped in surprise as the visitor smiled at him.

"Hi, old friend! Pardon me for coming so suddenly but there's something I wanted to talk to you…", said Arthur grimly as Sugoroku's face fell.

To think that he had just thought that nothing could disturb the peaceful lives of his family again for a long time…

xxx

RING-!

"I'll get it, o-nii-san!", cried Shizuka as she dashed towards the phone. Yes, she was here, you guys were not dreaming. Right now Jyounouchi and his sister had been living together in this new apartment of his after Shizuka insisted that she had wanted to stay close with her brother. Well, considering that Shizuka had constantly traveled far to visit him often, their mum had agreed to let her stay with him. Along with the fact that Jyounouchi's father had been sent to a rehabilitation center, there's nothing to worry about her safety.

Jyounouchi glanced towards his sister as he finished watering the potted plants at the balcony…

"Ah, yes… oh, no… Yugi-san was not here. Oh?... okay,", she said as she put down the phone.

"What is it… Shizuka?", cried Jyounouchi as she glanced at him. Shizuka shook her head.   
  
"Yugi's grandfather just called… he's trying to find him. He's not at Anzu's place or Honda's…", she said as Jyounouchi sighed.

"So that leaves one place that he's at. Come on… let's fetch Yugi! I hadn't had that guy's number… so it seems that we have to go to his house…", he said as Shizuka looked at him, puzzled.

"Whose house?", she asked as she dreaded the answer…

"Why, at Kaiba's residence!", he cried, noticing Shizuka's blushing face.

"Oh... eh? Kaiba-san's place?", she gasped as Jyounouchi dragged her along.

"Don't worry… I knew that guy would be pleased if I brought you along…"

"O-nii-san—!", cried Shizuka in panic as her brother ran out to call a taxi…

xxx

Jyounouchi shrugged nervously at the butler as he and Shizuka continued explaining. "—so that's why… umm, then… is Yugi here?", he said as the butler nodded in reply.

"Yes, he is. He's with Seto-sama and Mokuba-sama upstairs in his bedroom. Please… let me lead you to it…", said the butler as Jyounouchi and Shizuka followed him along.

/ **BITE HIM!** /

Shizuka jumped as she heard the harsh voice coming from one of the rooms. The butler smiled as he begged his leave. "You can find the room on your own then, I don't have to show you the room. Good day…", he said as Jyounouchi watched the butler leave…

/ _ **Half-Lycan, half-vampire… but stro—nger that both!**_ /

Out came another cold voice, followed by another set of strange voices and eerie music. Jyounouchi sighed at the thought of it. "Man—! When you're watching a movie at home… you don't need to open the volume so loud!", he cried as he dragged Shizuka towards the source of the commotion.

He pushed the door open too violently as Shizuka was caught by surprise. But that alone had not left them prepared for the sight beyond the room…

Silence overcomes the two siblings as Underworld continued on the set.

/ **What are you doing!** / Cried Kraven as Lucian smirked at him. / **You may have killed me… _cousin!_  But my will… is done, regardless**/ The Lycan then dropped unceremoniously to the ground as he let out his last breath…

Shizuka sighed as she marched forwards to the set and switched the television; along with the DVD player, off. She turned around towards the remaining inhabitants in the room with such frustration that caught Jyounouchi by surprise.

Alas, such brief show of anger did not affect the three occupants as Yugi's head lolled on Kaiba's shoulder with the latter, obviously unawares of his surroundings as his brother had lied on his lap, unmoving. Shizuka flushed red as she watched the trio sleeping on the mattress that had been dragged to the floor, opposite to the television set. And finally, Jyounouchi released the amused laugh that had been trapped in his throat as they watched the scene inside the room…

Shizuka sighed as she looked around the room, feeling very stupid. But then, her eyes caught sight of some picture frames on the side of Seto's desk. Half of them were pictures of Seto and and Mokuba from the time they were adopted by Gouzaburo Kaiba until some recent pictures of their that included one which has Yugi, Malik, Isis, Bakura and them when Seto and his brother went to Egypt, three years ago. But, the other half of it had mostly consisted of...

Jyounouchi gave a cry as he started noticing the picture frames. "Ee... what have we got her—", he was about to say.

Embarrassed, Shizuka immediately gave a loud cry as Jyounouchi was taken aback. Instantly, she turned towards her boyfriend, Mokuba and Yugi to give them a wake up call.

"GOOD AFTERNO—ON", shouted Shizuka as instantly the threesome woke up, pretty much shaken up. Kaiba had instantly grabbed Mokuba close to him in fear as Yugi grabbed his arm for good measure. All three of them looked at Shizuka in horror as Jyounouchi stumbled on the floor, laughing his head off after seeing their stupid face and completely forgotten about the picture frames.

Still, the threesome had remained dumbstruck as Shizuka, unable to keep the stern face any longer, joined her brother in his laughing spree while Kaiba blinked in confusion. He stared at Shizuka blankly before reality started to come back to him.

"Aa… Shizuka-cha… wha—SHIZUKA-CHAN!", cried Seto in shock as Yugi and Mokuba immediately pulled away from him. Blushing profusely, he quickly pulled his brother and Yugi up as he dragged everyone out of his bedroom…

xxx

"Mmm-hmm! What—what brings you two here? It's—it's not usual to see you guys here…", stuttered Seto as Mokuba chuckled at the look of his brother's embarrassed face. Yugi smiled nervously as he glanced briskly at him.

"Did my grandpa call you guys?", he said, as Jyounouchi nodded in response. "Oh!", he gasped as he realized that he hadn't brought his cellphone along. He shrugged at the silliness that ensued because of that. "But isn't it great? Now Shizuka-chan get to visit Seto's bedroom—!", cried Yugi as he jumped, after Seto had smacked his hip.

"Idiot Yugi...", snapped Seto as Yugi made a silly face.

Yugi laughed merrily as he tried to grab Seto's hand from strangling him. "Oh, before I forget. Why are you guys here? Did gramps ask you to fetch me for a reason?", he asked as Seto gave up the fight.

Shizuka looked up at them, cheeks slightly red after Yugi's sly remarks just now. "Grandpa Mutou wanted you to come home quickly for there is something urgent he wants to see you...", she cried as a strange dread shot into both Yugi and Seto's heart. A feeling of uneasiness overflowed unto them as both ceased to smile.

"What was it?", chorused both of them as Shizuka, Jyounouchi and Mokuba stared at them for suddenly becoming so serious…

xxx

_A white dragon and a purple-clad magician stood before her. There was a blinding light… and the magician and dragon struggled with their powers, but they were unsuccessful. The blast destroyed them despite everything as the beam of light attacked the people behind them, to whom they were protecting…_

_There was a scream of agony coming out as the blast dies out in a brilliantly display of light…!_

Sakura Kinomoto woke up shakily as she stared at her brother's concerned eyes…

"KYAAAA!", she shouted as both of them pulled away in surprise. Touya frowned at his sister as he mumbled about some dinosaur that had nightmares. Sakura leered at her brother as she looked out of the living room window. 

 _What a scary dream! It seemed so real…_ , she thought as she flashed a reassuring smile at the brother. "Don't worry… I just had a nightmare!", she cried as Touya made a face at her.

"Hah! Remind me to not let you fall in sleep in the evenings ever again! Boy, I never thought that a  _dinosaur_  could scream so loud!", he said as he stuck a finger in his ears before he walked away.

"O-nii-san!", shouted Sakura in anger as she contemplates about the strange dreams she'd just had…

 


	2. Unknown Power

Seto Kaiba grumpily drove his sleek, black Mercedes along the asphalt as Yugi tried his best to calm him down. "Hey… don't get mad anymore. It's my fault… if I hadn't forgotten my cellphone, this wouldn't happen…"

"And anyway, there's nothing wrong about going into your bedroom at the first place! I mean… Anzu, Honda and me always get into Yugi's room and he's not mad!", said Jyounouchi as Kaiba leered at him through the rear mirror. Yugi hushed him up as he explained it to his friend.

"That was because I let you guys in… and I was not sleeping or doing other  _things_ … So, you can't blame Seto for being  _angry —_", he said as Jyounouchi still don't get his meaning.

Mokuba sighed as he tried to fend for his brother. "Jyounouchi! Can't you understand that—"

"Seto-san, please don't be angry at brother. Anyway… your room, it… it was so nice. And that was so sweet of you, those pictures... Seto-sama was so cute. Anyway, you room was nicer than brother's—", said Shizuka as Jyounouchi looked at her in horror. 

"Shizuka! How could—and you don't have to compare it with mine!", he shrieked as Mokuba giggled happily.

Yugi, on the other hand, had not joined the chattering at the back of the car. Instead, he leant over to look at Seto. Yeah, that was the advantage of taking the front seat… and he prided himself for doing it. He smiled as he sat back on his seat.

"Calm down now?", he said, chuckling as Seto snorted at him. The taller of the two just sighed.

"Ye—ah. And unh…  but why on earth did she had to  _see_  it!  _That was so embarrassing.._ _fortunately the pup didn't see it or my secret will be known!_ ", he said as Mokuba turned around.

"Nii-sama, is there something you're trying to hide?", the young boy cheered as Jyounouchi ceased bullying his sister.

Seto gripped the steering wheel hard as he hollered to his brother. "Mokuba! You're not a 10-year-old kid anymore! Start acting your—"

"You're blushing, o-nii-sama!", he cheered again as Seto stopped talking and turned his attention back on driving. Yugi chuckled as Jyounouchi started to smirk. 

"Ooh, Kaiba. Did you have something to hide—?"

"Shut up,  _pup_... or I—"

"Ah, Seto-san! Please don't fight! I promise I won't tell anyone—", said Shizuka suddenly, blushing as she tried to stop her brother from fighting with Seto again. And like magic, the rest of the journey home to Yugi's house ceased to be lively anymore as Seto was reminded of the incident. He immediately turned his attention to driving to hide his embarrassment.

xxx

"Gramps! I'm home!", hollered Yugi as the others entered the living room. "Mama, is dinner ready?", he cheered again as he kissed his mum, who had just come out to the room. The woman smiled as she walked towards Seto. 

"It's quite late, isn't it? What did you two do at your house? And—", she glanced towards her overly-cheerful son. "What—happened? Yugi was especially cheerful today—", said Iria as Kaiba felt his cheeks starting to burn again. The woman smiled at the look of him as she gave him a brief hug and ushered Mokuba, Jyounouchi and Shizuka in.

Iria turned around towards her son again as she stared at him in disbelief. "Yugi! The moment you came home from Egypt, you can't stop bullying Seto! Tone it down you two!", she scolded as she caught a glimpse of Shizuka. "Anyway, she's so cute. You don't have to be so shy about it… The next time my kid bullied you, you badger him back on Rebecca. Don't worry… it's normal for youngsters like you to like somebody—", she whispered to Seto, briskly.

Mokuba grinned at hearing the exchange between Yugi's mum and his brother. It felt nice. For a long time, his brother had played the role of a father to him and treated himself as an adult. To be shown such devotion towards them, made it feel as if they were not orphans anymore. As if they've got another family again. A part of Yugi's family…

"Ah? Why's the long look, Mokuba-chan? Don't tell me that you're not glad to see me?", said Iria as Mokuba blinked at her. He chuckled nervously.

"No—It's just, if only you were our real aunt, Aunty Iria. Sure would be great… and about brother, can't blame Yugi since I bullied Seto too!", he chirped as Iria gave the 15-year-old kid a hug.

"That was so sweet, Mokuba! Okay, all of you wait here while I fetch some tea. Yugi, grandpa and Professor Hopkins would come down anytime soon so don't get angry before they've finished explaining," she said as Yugi looked at her in puzzled. "Professor Hopkins? Then, did Rebecca—"

And it is Seto's turn to smile smugly...

xxx

Sakura jumped on her bed as she started to dial Shaoran's phone number. Kero stared at her with interest.

"Sakura, what are you doing? You seemed a little worried about something. What happened?", he said as Sakura glanced at him. She shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know—Kero-chan! I just had a strange dream… silly, dragons and magicians… but I had this bad feeling that it's real! Like some premonition of the future or something!"

Kero gave her a strange look before hopping on her bed. "Ridiculous! Why did you say that? It's not like someone would die—is it?"

Sakura shook her head with worry as tears started to form in her eyes. "I saw that the magician and dragon were protecting their masters from something. I fear if the visions are true!", she said as Kero gasped in concern. But before he could say anything, the call was connected and Shaoran's voice was heard from the other side. Sakura quickly grabbed the phone to her ears.

"Shaoran! There something I've got to tell you...", she cried as she started to blurt everything to him…

xxx

Yugi stormed out of the house as Kaiba followed behind. Seeing that he was followed, Yugi ran as they've reached a rundown alley. Out of breath, he turned around to face him.

"What more do you want to say… Seto! You've heard the professor! But what makes it any different? There's nothing could be done! Who do they think I am? Am I supposed to save the world every time it was in danger? And _that_  was mostly because the other me was around! What can _I_  do about this now? I have no power to do anything," he said angrily as Seto tried to calm him.

"No… you don't have to. It's not that you're the only one who can. Still, you don't have to shout at them…"

Yugi sighed helplessly to himself. "I know… but it hurts my feelings that he still called  _him_  the _nameless_ pharaoh. He's got a name… Atemu! I—what would you feel if they called Priest Seth as the nameless priest?" Seto smiled bitterly as he patted Yugi's shoulder.

"I'd be hurt too—", he said as Yugi glanced at him, walking a little further.

"Seto, you saw those pictures! It was the forbidden ritual! The one who succeeds in performing the ritual would be able to wield the dark power that was almost as strong as the millenium powers! The same power that Heishin had used before! And what? We've destroyed the items already three years ago. If we were to stop him, what could we do? And by what means? You know, I started to feel like I've become the reference source for anything mystical! It's annoying…", ranted Yugi as Kaiba started to laugh.

"Ho—now you are exaggerating! It's not that—"

Yugi frowned as he noticed Kaiba's distraction. "What— Something wrong?"

"Yugi—do you hear something?", said Kaiba as suddenly a great ball of fire headed towards Yugi. The ground exploded as both of them were thrown away. 

Yugi screamed in agony as Kaiba ran towards him. He caught him before he fell to the ground. 

"What the— Seto, did you see that?", Yugi gasped as Kaiba saw another one coming. 

"We've got to evade!", he cried as the ball of flame grew nearer. Both of them closed their eyes as they braced for impact. There was an explosion and both of them were surprised that they weren't hit.

They looked up and immediately understood their predicament…

Blue Eyes White Dragon hovered before them as Black Magician directed his staff towards the sky. And gradually it turns out that the one that had attacked them was some kind of a duel monster.

Yugi and Kaiba hung their mouths up as they looked at this scene with surprise. "How did you do it?", exclaimed both of them to each other at the same time as they replied back to each other, "—how would I know? You're being weird!"

"But we didn't use the duel disk—", stuttered Kaiba.

"—do you have your cards?", said Yugi in return.

"What do you mean? Both of ours are still on my desk back at home!", shrieked Kaiba in panic as both saw what was on each other's foreheads. It was the Eye of Horus mark. Both of them were about to comment something on it but thought otherwise as the enemy monster started to attack again. Blue Eyes and Black Magician attacked the creature but it seemed futile. The duel monster transformed into a larger monster and attacked them again.

The attack was too strong for both Duel Monsters to handle! Blue Eyes and Black Magician perished as the attack zoomed straight towards…

xxx

"Ahh!", cried Shizuka as she clutched her chest while Rebecca suddenly had a horrible look. Jyounouchi looked at them in concern as Mokuba started to worry about his brother.

"What is it, Shizuka... Rebecca?", he said as she mumbled her reply.

"It's nothing—" she gasped as Mokuba looked out towards the window. A burst of light came from a distance. "Wha—nii-sama?", he cried as a bad feeling rose from his gut. Shizuka, Rebecca and Jyounouchi also happened to see it at the same time.

"What—? Darling!", cried Rebecca as she dashed out of the house towards the direction. 

"Rebecca...", cried professor Hopkins as both Shizuka and Mokuba ran out of the house to follow her lead. Grandpa Sugoroku walked into the living room with Yugi's mum as they saw only the two of them present. The surprised old man looked at them blankly.

"Arthur, why's that face? And Jyounouchi-kun… where did Shizuka, Rebecca and Mokuba had gone?", he said as Jyounouchi got up to the door. 

"Later! You guys stay here… I think something bad had happened to Yugi and Kaiba!", he said as he rushed out of the house.

"Yugi!", cried Iria as Arthur started to feel bad over this ordeal.

"I'm sorry, Sugoroku-san. If I've had known that this would happen, I—"

"Don't worry, Arthur! They'd be safe… they have to!", said Sugoroku as the night grew late…

xxx

Shizuka and Mokuba rushed over the scene and gasped as they saw it. Yugi and Kaiba were lying on the streets unmoving and the area around them looked as if a thunderstorm just hit it. Rebecca was already at Yugi's side as both of them ran towards them. A minute later, Jyounouchi caught up with them.

"Darling... please be all right!"

"Yugi… Yugi! Wake up!", cried Mokuba as Shizuka and Jyounouchi tried to wake Kaiba.

"Kaiba… Kaiba! Get up! You don't want to make my sister and Mokuba sad, are you!", shouted Jyounouchi as he shook the unconscious lad.

"Nii-sama!", cried Mokuba shakily as he turned towards his brother.

"Seto-san!", cried Shizuka as Kaiba's eyes started to flutter.

"What the—?", mumbled Kaiba as Mokuba rushed over towards him. Rebecca looked up at him as she kept holding Yugi by her side. "Yugi—", gasped Seto as he saw Mokuba's face.

"He's just unconscious… Nii-sama, what happened?", the boy cried as Shizuka moved towards Rebecca. Jyounouchi lifted him up to sitting position as Seto's eyes started to swirl back to unconsciousness.

"Stay with us, Kaiba!", shouted Jyounouchi as the lad started to mumble a few words.

"Attacked… forbidden… tried to… Yugi… almost… hurry…", he gasped as Seto collapsed again for good. Mokuba cried out in alarm as Jyounouchi immediately ran off to call for ambulance…


	3. Lost in Oblivion

"Tomoyo… where are you going?", cried Sonoko as she saw her only daughter about to go out bringing her bag. The girl looked up at her and smile as she saddled the bag.

"I'm going to Sakura's house!", she said as she skipped out of the house. 

xxx

"Hmm… what was it that Sakura was worried about? Li-kun told me that she was very distraught…", mused Tomoyo as she walked along Tomoeda Park.

**Kurii** …

She stopped suddenly as she heard the sound. Tomoyo turned around as she saw a small furry ball with large eyes, looking timidly at her. She gasped as the animal quickly vanished among the bushes. Tomoyo blinked in surprise as she had never seen such strange creature before…

xxx

Meanwhile, at the other side of the park, Black Magician Girl was scolding little Kuriboh. "Silly you! You might scare her! Are you sure that the girl was the friend of the gifted one?", she said as the Kuriboh nodded its reply. Black Magician Girl exclaimed in delight. "Yes! Now we only need to follow her to where her friends lives… Cat's Ears Tribe, you three follow the girl. Give a call if anything happen…", she said as the aforementioned monsters ran out of sight.

Black Magician Girl looked at Kuriboh and smiled. "Our task today is done! Let's go back and tell Timaeus, Critias and Helmos that we've found them…", said the spellcaster as Kuriboh made sad sounds. The spellcaster's face fell at the thought. "Don't worry… master will be all right. Master Yugi and Master Seto will soon wake up out of their slumber…", she said as she tried to sooth her own worries…

xxx

_"Yugi… there's something I wanted to show you. It was something that was found in one of our excavation site in Egypt. I wonder if you know something…", said Arthur Hopkins as he took out several photos. Yugi and Kaiba glanced at the photos as suddenly their faces changed for an instance before regaining their composure. Yugi gave the photos back at the professor as he kept a very grim face._

_"I don't understand this. Why did you show me these pictures…", said Yugi as Arthur cast a puzzled glance at him._

_"I've translated some of the markings and it was about some form of ritual on raising the power of darkness. I saw another marking that resembled the ones that was in the nameless pharaoh tablet. I thought you might know something since I was worried about this. A few days after this pictures were taken, the place was raided by an unknown person and the wall markings were destroyed! I fear if someone tried to resurrect the dark power—"_

_"Sorry… I can't help you. There's nothing that can be done…", said Yugi coldly as he started to head to the door._

_"Wait, Yugi! You must have known something. I saw your reaction just now...You know something—", said Arthur as he tried to stop Yugi from going away._

_"LET ME GO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!", cried Yugi as he dashed out of the house._

_"Darling!", cried Rebecca as Jyounouchi and the others looked at each other in surprise over Yugi's sudden outburst. Kaiba merely stood still as Sugoroku apologized profusely to his friend. Thinking it through, he decided to follow Yugi._

_"Wait… Kaiba—", said Arthur as the lad paused, few feet from the door. Kaiba turned around at him and smiled apologetically. "I knew what you wanted to say. Yes, I know something about that markings—but as long as Yugi refused to tell you about this, I will keep this knowledge from you. Anyway, there was nothing that Yugi and I can do—", he said as he scrambled out to catch Yugi…_

_xxx_

Anzu dashed across the corridors as she stopped at the counter. "Miss, where could I find the patients named Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba?", she gasped as the kindly nurse directed he towards the place. She arrived later as she saw Jyounouchi, Shizuka, Mokuba as well as the Yugi's grandpa, mum and Professor Hopkins standing outside a hospital room.

"What happened, Jyounouchi?", she gasped as the lad came to her to calm her down.

"Yugi and Kaiba were attacked by something, but I don't know what. Now, both of them were in coma—", he said as Anzu gasped in shock.

"No, Yugi—were they hurt badly?", she said as Jyounouchi shook his head.

"No, the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with them. But they just won't wake up! And they said something about their brain activity were very weak— but I don't know what they mean. Aa, I hope they'll wake up soon. You won't believe me.. Anzu, but I started to miss Kaiba calling me names..."

Anzu giggled at the mention of it but then, grew sober again. "But, they will be fine... right?", asked Anzu, afraid that she would lose Yugi again after finally having the second chance at being his friend again. Yes, the fling was definitely over between the two of them, not like she wanted it but it was Yugi's decision at the first place and she won't make any fuss over it. All that she hoped is that Yugi would be safe and sound and start laughing again. As long as she could still see Yugi happy with her own eyes, she will be satisfied even if she's not being with him. That would be enough... wouldn't it?

Jyounouchi sighed helplessly as he noticed the girl looking too distraught. Anzu sobbed uncontrollably as she glanced towards the sleeping Shizuka and Mokuba. Both of them were worried as her on this matter. She wiped away her tears as she forced herself to remain calm.

"Don't worry— they will be fine! I know—", she said sternly as she entered Yugi and Seto's ward to find Rebecca asleep at the side of Yugi's bed. The young girl looked so sorrowful even in sleep as Anzu felt sad for her.

 _Don't worry, Rebecca. Yugi will be fine. Kaiba-kun too_...

xxx

_Shizuka walked into the room as she stood beside Seto's bedside. To her surprise, there was another person standing nearby and it was a girl. The girl had a long silver hair and she was caressing Seto's face. Shizuka was taken aback by this and was about to shout as the girl looked up towards her and smiled. It was then that she realized that the girl had a beautiful azure eyes. The girl slowly walked up to her._

_"He will be fine... My beloved priest and his pharaoh will recover soon. You don't need to be so sad. Everything will be okay...", said the girl as she hugged Shizuka._

_"Trust your heart... it will guide him to you and protect him always. Remember this...", said the girl again as she vanished..._

Shizuka gasped as she woke up suddenly with Mokuba still sleeping on her shoulder. She breathe slowly as she realized that it was only a dream. But then, she wondered as she suddenly aware that the girl in her dream had looked a lot like her...

xxx

"Sakura, are you all right?", said Tomoyo as she sat beside her on the couch. The girl smiled reassuringly.

"I'm okay now. I was just wondering—", said Sakura as Shaoran patted her shoulders, reassuringly.

"Whatever it is... we'll find out for sure. Don't worry, Sakura!", he said as Kero nodded with enthusiasm.

"And another thing, I saw something following me on the way here. I never saw a cute furry ball like that...", said Tomoyo suddenly as Sakura saw something else.

"And I saw another...", she cried as she caught one of the Cats Ear's Tribe that had wondered into Sakura's open doors. The other two monsters hid among the bushes as Sakura brought the feline to her friends.

Everyone of them looked at the cat with strange interest. "I never knew people liked to dress up their cats like this. Do you think that she got lost?", said Sakura as she and Tomoyo started to pamper the cat by the ears. The cat meowed as Shaoran let out an amused grin. 

"She was cute too! I wonder if the owner lives around here...", he said as Kero frowned at the cat.

"Yeah, I wonder—", he muttered as he sensed a strange power illuminatiing from the cat...


	4. Turbulence

"Ouch...", said Seto as he slowly rose from his slumber. And then as he blinked at his surroundings, and seeing that almost impossible image in front of him... he knew that something was wrong. "Oh- Where am I? I don't think that I'm supposed to be at a hospital, am I? Not even in Domino...", he said as he glanced at the tall figure.

Seth smirked by himself as he felt amused at the reaction of his supposed future self. "I guess so. Where do you think we are now?", he said as Seto scratched his head in confusion.

"I could remember being attacked and trying to defend ourselves but... oh no, am I dead? Are we at the spirit world-?", cried Seto in panic as Seth started to laugh.

"No, but you're close. This is the DM world as you know it. And me in front of you is a spirit. And you two... existing here also in spirit form...", explained Seth as Seto took that all in. And then, finally he remembered.

"Yugi! What happened to him? Do you know? Is he alright? You know who I'm taking about, is it? Yugi was Atemu's--well, he looked like him,", cried Seto.

Seth looked at him in surprise.  _This person... he shows a lot of care for this Yugi. Same as Pharaoh. But how could he be... mind that, in his time, this Yugi was no pharaoh... and not his cousin. But he still cares about the other as if they were related by blood. Oh Ra... cross that, how could I tell him about his friend..._

Seth swallowed hard as he turned to face the exit. "He's... okay, kind of. Atemu was with him. Follow me...", said Seth as Seto followed him, feeling very worried. He knew in his heart that something was amiss...

xxx

And he proved himself correct as he found both of them in the other chamber. Atemu was sitting on the bedside, and Yugi... he was still unconscious. Seto darted towards them as he looked at Yugi's limp form on the bed.

"What's wrong with Yugi?", gasped Seto as Atemu shook his head slowly. "I don't know... I've tried to wake him up all the time but there's some force that's preventing me to reach him-"

"Nonsense!", cried Seto as he grabbed Yugi's body to shake him. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Yugi immediately popped his eyes open and gasped as if he had been drowning. 

"What? Whoa-!", gasped Seto as Atemu let out a frightened gasp. 

"Huh... Seto? What happened? Why are we here? What in the world-"

"Oh-hoho... slow down cowboy! We're alive... and for some reason we're stuck in this DM world-", said Seto as Yugi glanced around and saw Seth and Atemu at his side. He stared and blinked at his other self for a short minute and looked away. Misinterpreting the gesture, Atemu looked down on his knees sadly, thinking that his  _partner_  doesn't like him anymore. Well, he's got Kaiba and they seemed pretty close and it's not like he hadn't noticed that his  _partner_  had looked exactly like him...

Yugi sighed heavily as he got off the bed and walked towards Atemu's side. And before he knew it, the young pharaoh felt tender arms encircling his body as Yugi embraced his other self. Atemu gasped as Yugi whispered his apologies beside his ears. "I'm sorry... I had just escaped from being trapped inside the shadow realm that I took little time to set my emotions right again. It's not like I hated you...", said Yugi, smiling as he released Atemu from the embrace. Eventually, the young pharaoh also smiled as he glanced at Seto and his double self.

It seemed that sunshine returned to lighten his heart again as Atemu smiled at his  _partner_  earnestly. "Now I'm sure that you are  _partner_! No one could smile at me like that even if they used magic to look like me!", said Atemu as Yugi appeared amused by the reaction. 

"I guessed you were right. And you still called me your partner! It's Yugi... try, Yu-Gi...", said Yugi slowly as Seto laughed at the prospect of seeing him teaching his other self to say his proper name. Atemu grinned as he saw Seth smirking silently at the edge of the room.

"Okay... Yugi. Thanks... so, what happened to both of you that you guys flew over to this world?", said Atemu as Yugi frowned. 

"Your- ehem..  _friend,_  said something that you guys had been ambushed—", said Seth as Seto and Yugi looked a little pale. Atemu glanced at them in concern as he sensed some troubling feeling. He was about to ask more before Yugi started to open his mouth...

"They were trying to kill me...", said Yugi monotonously as Atemu and Seth looked at them in shock.

"What... Why-?", gasped Atemu as Yugi waved his hand in front of him. Might as well tried summoning something as to confirm that their powers really exist before having to explain anything. But unfortunately, Yugi had inadvertently summoned Black Magician and the mage was looking none too happy at him.

"Oh no...", moaned Yugi as he slapped his own forehead. "I was hoping that I could summon someone else...", he said as Atemu gave him a shocked expression. Technically, it would be impossible for Yugi to use any powers, not like he knows...

"That... is the reason," said Seto calmly. "And for some  _other_ reason, I've got the same powers too. And we've never realized it that we had it until... you know. It's like our attacker knew something about our sudden new abilities...", said Seto as Yugi decided to get out of the room.

"Wait-", ordered Black Magician as Yugi glared at him angrily. "Can the explanations come later? I'm sick of this! It's been five years... and I had lived the last three years happily thinking that I could finally live a normal life! And suddenly, someone out there wants to wreck havoc in my life even when I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!", shouted Yugi at Mahado's face as Atemu and Seth looked at him in surprise. And Seto just watched him as he fully understood his feelings. Well, Yugi had been ranting at him seconds before they were attacked—

A little bit taken, Mahado just let the lad go as he stared at Seto with questions in his head. "What happened?", said the mage as Seto sighed.

"Well... a lot of things had happened after that  _trip_  inside Yugi's memories. To keep it short, it's been havoc. Especially since Yugi's father—"

"Yugi's father—?", gasped Atemu as Seto nodded at him. "Yugi's father... had returned after Yugi and I had faced a formidable enemy. Some stupid problems occur after that, very confusing matter. And then, we found out that there was something else that was weird... and that brought another mess. Now, a few years has passed and Yugi and I had been living our lives as normal as we could... but up came the Professor to bring the bad news and BANG! We were attacked... or in this case,  _someone tried to kill Yugi before I rushed in to save him and had us both hit!_  Now... you understand?", ranted Seto as Mahado looked at him wide-eyed.

It seemed Yugi was not the only one in a bad mood...

xxx

Atemu took a long sigh before glancing towards Seto sternly. "Kaiba... what's this about? Had anything happened since I entered the Eye of Wedjat? What is it that you were keeping from me...?" he said as Seth gave his other self a look of bewilderment. Not to mention some glares towards Mahado because he never told them anything! Really... mages these days...

Seto heaved another sigh... as he recollected himself to be the arrogant businessman--otherwise known as the second best duelist that most people still thought he was. 

"It started a few... months after that  _little_  itsy bitsy trip to Egypt. Anzu and her whole pack of hullabaloo two friends of hers started to forget about everything and made Yugi's life like hell. And then—", explained Seto as Atemu started to understand the reason on why his partner was really angry about...

xxx

"Aww... was she cute?", cooed Tomoyo as she played with the cutey, little white  _cat_  that was residing on Sakura's lap. Sakura nodded as she let the  _cat_  pawed her hands.

"No wonder her owner dressed her up like this. So cute!", sighed Sakura as she heard Touya coming. Kero-chan immediately let himself fall on Tomoyo's lap as he pretended to be a doll. Touya walked into the living room as he saw them...

Touya's eyes grew sharp as he noticed Shaoran's presence. "Oh...  _visitors!_  Shall I go and bring out some refreshments?", he chanted as Sakura glared at him.

"O-nii-chan! It's been a long time... why can't you be  _nice_  to Shaoran? He's only--", she said as Shaoran stopped her.

"I'll help out. You don't need to force yourself...", he said earnestly as he hastily headed towards the kitchen. Touya gave him a leer as he spotted the cat on Sakura's lap.

Kero looked at him with interest as for the first time in his whole experience, that Touya was not staring at him. The tall man just shrugged and headed towards the kitchen as Sakura gave him an evil look...

xxx

Shizuka held Seto's hand tightly as the respirator unit suddenly showed his heart beating rapidly before returning back to the slow rhythm that was continuing now. Yugi had the same reaction before but she had decided not to alarm the others by giving them a false alarm. And Rebecca was already tired out for the day and was silently sleeping at Yugi's side so there's no need to alarm her yet.

Anyway, the others had not taken any food at any regular time since coming to the hospital and only at some small tidbits of food they could buy at the cafe. But that was no proper food for them. So, all of them had decided to pay a little visit to the cafeteria to have some proper lunch. After all, most of them had stayed up and watched over Seto and Yugi's progress with little improvements for almost three days and they scarcely had time to refresh themselves. Rebecca hadn't had any appetite since the incident and had constantly sat beside Yugi with Shizuka. She too had not eaten properly since then but right now, watching over her Seto-sama whom she loved is the only thing that matters now. She slowly brought Seto's palm towards her cheeks...

"Shizuka, you want something..?" Suddenly, Jyounouchi popped in as this startled Shizuka to let go of Seto's hand. 

"O.. o-nii-chan! What--?" gasped Shizuka as her brother rolled his eyes at her.

"Food... something to eat--?", said Jyounouchi, rolling his eyes at his sister.

"Ah... yes! Let's go--", she cried as she turned and gave a short kiss on Seto's cheek. "I'll be back... probably with Mokuba too. Take care!", she whispered as she rushed towards her brother. "Ah, wait! I'll go wake Rebecca up...", said Shizuka as she ran off to find her friend...

xxx

"Mokuba-kun... what's the matter?", asked Sugoroku as Mokuba slowly ate his late breakfast with the others. 

"I wonder... what if nii-sama and Yugi never wake up? Then I'll be alone...", moaned the lad as the old man patted his shoulders comfortingly. 

"They will be alright... Trust me...", said the old man as the lad sighed heavily while trying to swallow the fries that he had stuck into his mouth...


End file.
